Alfalfa in Kansas. 235 



to produce a fine, mellow surface. If several heavy rains fall after the 

 ground has been plowed it will not be necessary to use a roller or packer 

 in preparing the seed bed, but should the weather following the plowing 

 remain dry it is usually advisable to roll or pack the ground, both for 

 the purpose of firming the seed bed and of pulverizing the clods which 

 would otherwise interfere with the seeding of the crop. On good, clean 

 ground, a satisfactory seed bed can often be prepared with the disk. In 

 fact, if the plowing can not be done reasonably early in the summer, 

 disked ground will usually make a better seed bed for alfalfa than 

 ground that has been plowed late. While wheat or spring grain stubble 

 usually makes the best seed bed for alfalfa, the crop can often be seeded 

 with success following cowpeas, flax, millet or corn. When seeded after 

 a crop of this kind, which is harvested late in the summer, a better seed 

 bed can be prepared with the disk than with the plow. Ordinarily, a 

 single or double disking, followed by the harrow, will put the ground in 

 condition for the alfalfa seed. 



It is customary in western Kansas and in some sections of eastern 

 Kansas to sow alfalfa in the spr-ing. This is the best time to sow alfalfa 

 in western Kansas, because the fall is either too dry to start the crop, 

 or grasshoppers are so numerous that the young plants are destroyed 

 by these insects. The best seed bed for spring seeding can be secured 

 by plowing the ground the fall preceding, leaving it rough over winter, 

 and then working it into good seed-bed condition with the disk and 

 harrow. In the eastern part of the state the alfalfa should be sown as 

 soon as danger of severe freezing weather is past, but in the western 

 part it is best to delay seeding until the spring rains start and there 

 is no danger of the soil blowing. 



Another satisfactory method of preparing a seed bed, and one that is 

 adapted to land that is deficient in available plant food, or to parts of 

 the state where conditions are too dry to start alfalfa readily, is to plow 

 the land in the fall or spring and cultivate it sufficiently thereafter to kill 

 the weeds and maintain a soil mulch. In western Kansas the alfalfa 

 seeded after this plan had best be sown late in the spring, while 

 in eastern Kansas the ground should be cultivated throughout the 

 summer and the alfalfa seeded in the fall. Soil that is kept cul- 

 tivated over a long period of time in this way is free of weed seeds and 

 accumulates a reserve of available plant food and moisture. With 

 favorable weather conditions thereafter, a stand of alfalfa will be se- 

 cured on soil so infertile or foul with weeds that difficulty is ordinarily 

 experienced in starting the crop. (See "Seed-bed Preparation," in index.) 



SEEDING. 



Time to Plant Alfalfa. 



In the eastern two-thirds of Kansas alfalfa can be started as easily, 

 and often more easily, in the fall than in the spring. When the crop can 

 be started in the fall, one year's crop is usually saved. As an example of 

 this, two fields were seeded to alfalfa on the Kansas State Agricultural 

 College farm in 1914. One field was seeded in the spring, following corn, 

 while the other field was seeded in the fall, following wheat. The field 



